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Good morning, everyone. This is Ron Valdiserri.
I'm the Deputy Director of the National Center for HIV, STD and
TB prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in
Atlanta, Georgia. We're delighted that all of you have joined us
today. With me today is Dr. George Counts, who is the Director of
CDC's Syphilis Elimination activities.

We are pleased to share with you today new data,
which shows substantial progress towards our national goal of
syphilis elimination. The overall syphilis rate has declined to an
all time low just three years after the launch of CDC's National
Syphilis Elimination Plan. Based largely on the success of state
and local public health programs and innovative community
partnerships, this dramatic reduction suggests a unique
opportunity to eliminate syphilis in this country.

By now we hope that all of you have received the
press release and a fact sheet on CDC's community partnership
activities to eliminate syphilis. If you have not, or if you have
any questions after this call, please feel free to contact our
media office, and I'm going to give you their telephone number.
It is 404-639-8895. You can also visit our Web site, which is
www.cdc.gov/std.

Now to set the stage a bit for our teleconference
this morning, first I'm going to provide an overview of syphilis
in the United States, where we are today, and briefly discuss
CDC's National Syphilis Elimination Plan, which first began in
1998. Then I'm going to turn the presentation over to Dr.
Counts, who will discuss record declines in national syphilis
rates, as well as several innovative CDC sponsored community
programs that are contributing to these declines. We will then
open the floor for any questions you might have.

The overall syphilis rate in the United States
fell to an all time low in 2000, representing a significant
decline from the year before. This continues a steady decline in
rates since the U.S. syphilis epidemic last peaked in 1990.
History shows us that syphilis rates tend to run in seven to
ten-year cycles, and the continuing decline in national rates
suggests that we may have altered that trend. However, unless we
sustain action to eliminate syphilis, we could once again
experience a rise in syphilis rates.

The good news is that we have the tools and the
resources at hand to effectively eliminate syphilis in the United
States. Syphilis is easily diagnosed and cured, given adequate
access to and utilization of care. The challenge we face is to
ensure that all people in the United States have access to
syphilis diagnosis and treatment.

In the United States syphilis cases remain
centered in a small number of counties. Although all racial and
ethnic groups are effected by this disease, the communities most
affected tend to be made up of African Americans living in
resourced poor communities, precisely those areas that very often
lack access to adequate healthcare.

Before we move on, let me make sure that everyone
understands what syphilis is and what its consequences are. As you
know, syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease. Left untreated,
it can leave to cardiovascular and neurologic diseases. Its
presence also increases HIV transmission two to fivefold.
Untreated syphilis during pregnancy can result in infant death in
up to 40% of cases. As such, eliminating syphilis in the United
States would be a landmark achievement. It would greatly improve
the wellbeing of people in resourced poor communities, and it
could reduce HIV transmission rates in this country.

Eliminating syphilis, which is 21 times more
common in African Americans and three times more common in Latinos
than white Americans, would also decreases one of the most glaring
racial disparities in healthcare today.

So what exactly do we mean by syphilis
elimination? Syphilis elimination is defined as the absence of
sustained transmission in the U.S. This means that while there may
be occasional outbreaks, these outbreaks would be quickly
identified and contained, eliminating the risk of a new epidemic.
That's what we're aiming for. It is important to note that
syphilis has been eliminated in other industrialized nations,
including Canada and England, so we're definitely talking about
something that is possible and readily achievable.

In the United States our national goal is to
reduce infectious syphilis cases to 1,000 or fewer each year, and
to increase the number of syphilis-free counties to at least 90%
by 2005. In the year 2000, more than 80% of all of the U.S.
counties, and there are 3,139 counties in the United States, so
more than 80% of all of those counties reported no cases of
primary or secondary syphilis. Half of all primary and secondary
cases of syphilis in the U.S. in the year 2000 were concentrated
in only 21 counties and one city. This concentration of syphilis
in a small number of communities represents both an opportunity
and a challenge.

There years ago, in 1998, CDC and its partners
initiated a national effort to eliminate syphilis in the United
States. The lowest syphilis rates in U.S. history and a
concentration of disease in a few geographic areas provided us an
opportunity to build on current STD prevention and control efforts
by combining intensified traditional approaches with innovative
new approaches. There are five strategies that are critical to our
syphilis elimination efforts. Let me take a few moments to briefly
describe them.

Foremost among these strategies is the
strengthening of community involvement and partnership. Because
syphilis is highly localized, CDC is working closely with
community partners, and state and local governments to strengthen
programs in the hardest hit communities. Many programs are
receiving supplemental funding to support community outreach
activities, utilizing public and private partnerships. In
Tennessee, Indiana, and North Carolina, CDC has funded syphilis
elimination demonstration projects in three counties. Dr. Counts
will share with you the progress made in each of these areas.

Through these expanded partnerships with nonprofit
and community organizations, and federal, state, and local
government public health agencies, communities at greatest risk
are gaining access to timely clinical and laboratory services,
including counseling, screening, and treatment. These communities
are being aware of the risk of syphilis and how to reduce it
through effective health information campaigns sponsored by local
governments, partners, and public health departments. CDC is also
working to form multi-disciplinary rapid response teams that can
work closely with local and state health officials in the event of
a syphilis outbreak.

Finally, our capacity to track and monitor
syphilis has also been significantly increased since we increased
our support to syphilis case management and surveillance programs.
Today's new data are a result of those increased efforts.

This comprehensive approach instituted just three
years ago has begun to payoff in terms of real progress towards
our national goal of syphilis elimination, and these efforts will
have a profound impact on improving health in affected
communities.

I would now like to turn over the call to Dr.
George Counts, who will present our new data showing continuing
reductions in overall syphilis rates. George.

Dr. Counts

Thank you, Ron. The overall number of cases
of syphilis in the United States reached an all time low in the
year 2000. Only 5,979 cases of primary and secondary syphilis were
reported, a decline of 9.6% since 1999. This represents a 30% drop
since 1997, the year before CDC initiated its Syphilis Elimination
plan, and an 89.2% drop since the epidemic last peaked in 1990.

A substantial portion of the overall decline in syphilis can be
attributed to syphilis elimination activities. Many of these
efforts have been targeted to communities that continue to report
the highest number of cases and rates of primary, secondary
syphilis, and congenital syphilis, but challenges remain.

As in past years, minorities and men continue to be
disproportionately impacted by syphilis. The overall rates for
primary and secondary syphilis among African Americans declined by
an impressive 40% from 1997 to 2000, but remained much higher than
for whites. Among Hispanics and Latinos, rates actually increased
by 12.5% in the same period.

In 2000, the reported rate of syphilis among men was 1.5 times
greater than the reported rate among women. The male to female
ratio has risen steadily since 1994 when it was one to one,
reflecting an equal number of cases among men and women.

Since 1999, primary and secondary syphilis outbreaks have
occurred among men who have sex with men in several U.S. cities,
including Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Chicago, Miami Beach,
and others. These outbreaks coincide with other evidence of
increases in sexual risk behavior among some populations of men
who have sex with men.

I would now like to briefly share with you three examples of
innovative community outreach programs that are meeting these
challenges in affected communities. CDC has funded syphilis
elimination demonstration sites in three communities. In addition
to syphilis elimination funding provided to all communities with
high syphilis morbidity, these programs receive supplemental
federal funding to support public/private partnerships to fight
syphilis, and are helping CDC evaluate and refine the national
strategies for syphilis elimination. Most importantly, these
programs have led to dramatic decreases in the syphilis rates in
their communities.

In Nashville, Tennessee, which is located in Davidson County,
public health officials have partnered with STG3, a dynamic
community coalition, including members of faith communities,
schools and colleges, community groups, and healthcare agencies,
to eliminate syphilis from their communities. The health
department also has developed innovative syphilis programs,
including a screening program at the county jail that provides 24
hour a day testing and treatment. As a result of these efforts,
syphilis cases in Davidson County have dropped from 250 in 1999 to
200 cases in the year 2000.

In Marion County, Indiana, including Indianapolis, reported
cases of syphilis have decreased from 407 in 1999 to 301 cases in
2000. Much of the progress has been made with the help of the
Stamp Out Syphilis Coalition. Comprised of grassroots communities
and faith-based organizations, city officials, state legislators,
and concerned citizens, the coalition supports educational and
outreach programs in neighborhoods, clubs, barber, and beauty
shops, and laundromats. Public health outreach workers also
provide community-based testing for syphilis and HIV, while key
hospitals provide enhanced STD prevention services. This project
also has initiated a syphilis prevention campaign through
billboards, bus ads, and radio spots.

In the third community, with the help of the Knockout Syphilis
Community Task Force, reported cases of syphilis have declined 27%
from 1999 to 2000 in Wake County, North Carolina, which includes
Raleigh. Knockout Syphilis brings together retired school
officials, representatives from sororities, substance abuse
programs, faith-based and youth organizations to raise community
awareness around syphilis elimination. Syphilis screening has not
only been implemented in the county jail, but in home and on the
street outreach and testing are available in the communities
hardest hit by the syphilis epidemic.

These innovative programs have greatly enhanced the impact of
CDC's syphilis elimination efforts. Moreover, they demonstrate
that elimination of syphilis is a feasible goal when public
agencies partner with affected communities. By meeting this goal
we can greatly improve the health of these communities, reduce
racial health disparities, and slow the spread of HIV.

I'll now turn it back to Dr. Valdiserri for our few final
comments.

Dr. Valdiserri

Thank you, George. Through effective planning
and coordination among national, state, and local organizations,
both public and private, we have seen remarkable reductions in
syphilis rates over just a few years. Special syphilis elimination
programs supported through CDC and other federal partners are
doing a tremendous job in helping the United States reduce its
syphilis rates. These programs also demonstrate the power of
public/private partnerships to improve health. Syphilis rates have
dropped dramatically in the past decade. We have a historic
opportunity to continue this progress and eliminate syphilis in
the United Sates.

At this point in time, we're going to open up our
presentation for questions. I'm going to begin by seeing if
there are any questions here in the room, and then we'll go to
the telephone. So let me ask, are there any questions in the
room?

R. Milford

Yes. Rob Milford from CBS News. In
light of the public's awareness of anthrax, smallpox, and
everything else, this may get overlooked in the journals and in
the public. It really is a big deal, isn't it? We're really
conquering yet another disease?

Dr. Valdiserri

It's absolutely a big deal. We, as Dr.
Counts pointed out, have made tremendous progress towards syphilis
elimination. I think it's important to point out that since the
beginning of our efforts we've tried to inform the public that
syphilis outbreaks are really a barometer of community health.
Anything that can be done to strengthen our capacity to detect
and intervene early in terms of syphilis elimination is also going
to
help strengthen the overall public health infrastructure. So we
see these efforts as being helpful broadly to the field of public
health.

Are there any other questions from the floor? All right. What
we're going to do then is take questions from our colleagues who
have joined us by telephone. We're glad to have many of you on
the line today. I would like to give all of you an opportunity to
ask at least one question, so I'm going to ask callers to limit
to a single question. If we have time after we've given everyone
a chance to ask a single question, we'll come back, and if
someone has additional questions we'll be glad to take those
up.

I also want to point out that if we do end up running out of
time I would ask folks who feel like they need additional
information or might like to schedule individual interviews to
contact the CDC press office. I gave you that number at the
beginning of the process. I'll just repeat it one more time
here, 404-639-8895.

Let's go ahead and take the first question. Please identify
yourself and your publication.

Moderator

First question in queue is from Bob Roar from
Bay Area Reporter. Please go ahead.

B. Roar

I actually had a couple of interrelated
questions about the syphilis outbreak and men having sex with men.
Do you have any total numbers on those? Are there any changes in
demographics that you see from the other patterns?

Dr. Valdiserri

Let me say that we could provide numbers from
the individual outbreaks that have taken place in several
communities across the United States. There does tend to be
variation in terms of the demographics in terms of race ethnicity.
George, I don't know if you want to comment more generally on
that?

Dr. Counts

Just some general comments. As you are aware,
CDC has been investigating outbreaks of syphilis reported among
men who have sex with men for about the past couple of years, and
they are occurring in the cities that you mentioned plus some
others.

In terms of demographics, although the syphilis cases that we
reported nationally have been predominantly among African
Americans and we talked about the health disparity, among the
outbreaks of syphilis among MSM there are slightly different
demographic features, in that more cases are occurring among
whites and Latinos than among African Americans.

Dr. Valdiserri

Thank you. Next question.

Moderator

The next question is form Charles Ornstein
from Los Angeles Times. Please go ahead.

C. Ornstein

Hi. I just wanted to follow-up on that
question dealing with men who have sex with men. Can you address
a little bit, Dr. Valdiserri, the next round of demonstration
projects that you may put in place to deal with the men who have
sex with men issue or guidances from your office, and whether or
not they're going to target this issue as the next focus?

Dr. Valdiserri

I would be glad to provide some information
on that and then ask George to add to that. Let me be clear that
we at CDC for the past 24 months have been very concerned about
this issue and have undertaken a number of activities to begin
to try to address it. In fact, there was a large regional meeting
that took place in Los Angeles on Monday and Tuesday of this week
that brought together health department, and community-based
providers, and folks from the academic community to talk about
ways and share experiences with improving HIV and STD prevention
services for men who have sex with men. That meeting wasn't
focused exclusively on syphilis, but syphilis and other STD's
was certainly a major component. That was the third of four
regional meetings that have taken place since September of this
year.

Although we don't have a copy that's yet ready for public
distribution, I also wish to share with you that we have been
working with our federal advisory committee and other outside
experts to expand or to add an expanded portion to our Syphilis
Elimination plan that deals specifically with MSM populations and
outlines some specific steps that can be taken to address this
issue. We expect to have that document ready for public
distribution likely early in 2002. George, I don't know if you
want to add to that?

Dr. Counts

Yes. The comment included a question about
demonstration projects. The initial demonstration sites were
funded for a specific purpose. That is to look at the national
plan and demonstrate service, kind of field and laboratories as
it were, to focus on the national plan itself, so we won't be
setting up demonstration sites to address new target communities.
What we are doing however is that with the additional funding,
which is the supplemental funding that goes out each year to
specific communities, we are allowing additional funding so that
they could take portions of their funding to address specific new
needs in their community. Among these new needs could be focusing
more on men who have sex with men.

Dr. Valdiserri

One other point I'd like to make is,
actually two points before we move onto the next question, that
we are aware of the fact that many of our grantees, many of the
organizations receiving resources from CDC, are putting specific
resources into intensifying syphilis elimination efforts among
MSN
communities.

The last point I'd like to make is that CDC over the past
several months has been doing outreach to the gay media to try
to work with them to continue to get the message out about the
importance of early diagnosis and treatment of syphilis.

I'd like to take the next question.

Moderator

The next question is from Erin McClain from
Associated Press. Please go ahead.

E. McClam

Hi, doctors. Thanks for having this
telebriefing. You mentioned syphilis has a sort of a barometer of
public health, and I was wondering if you could sort of expand on
that. How much overlap is there, for example, in your HIV
prevention efforts and your syphilis prevention efforts? What
other diseases can we sort of attack by taking on syphilis this
way?

Dr. Valdiserri

I would be glad to make a comment on that,
and I know George would want to as well. You'll remember, and
you'll see in the press materials that you received, when we
talked about the five elements that are integral to syphilis
elimination. If you look at these five elements and compare them
to what public health experts talk about as the essential public
health functions, regardless of the illness or disease or
condition that we're dealing with, you'll see great
consistency. For instance, the capacity to detect outbreaks early
on. It expands across all public health, not just infectious
disease, but other conditions as well. The ability to form strong
partnerships with communities, so that health departments are
working closely with communicates and effected communities, is
something that is absolutely essential in all dimensions of public
health. I want to underscore that some of the specific steps that
we have taken in terms of our syphilis elimination activities are
really part and parcel of a sound public health system.

As I mentioned, since the beginning of the launch in 1998, we
have tried to describe syphilis elimination in the context of
overall community health. We feel since we're dealing with the
disease that is easily diagnosed and easily treated, when we
have situations like with syphilis in the U.S. that show profound
disparities across racial and ethnic groups, we see that this
really points out a breakdown in public health. The steps that
we
take to eliminate syphilis are really steps that are going to
strengthen the public health infrastructure.

Dr. Counts

Just to add one particular point to that, in
addition to the steps necessary to prevent and control syphilis
leading to improved measures for other diseases, as Dr. Valdiserri
just said, in addition, the key point we feel is this, because
of the contribution of syphilis to HIV, we feel that an effort,
which
can eliminate syphilis will have a tremendous impact on HIV
prevention and control. That's a very important measure.

Dr. Valdiserri

Next question, please.

Moderator

The next question is from Steven Smith from Miami
Herald. Please go ahead.

S. Smith

Hi. Good afternoon. I was wondering, and this
is teasing off what Dr. Counts was just mentioning, the degree
to which your sanguine assessment regarding syphilis is circumscribed
by some of the pretty potent reports we're seeing in communities
such as South Florida, San Francisco, and New York, of rebounding
HIV rates? When you look at some of the landmark work done by Bill
Darrow of FIU, formally of PVC, that show infection rates among
young gay men in South Beach, for instance, being as high as
perhaps one in five, it would seem that maybe this sanguine
assessment about syphilis is not entirely warranted. So I'm
wondering how you sort of square what seem to be two counter
trends?

Dr. Valdiserri

This is Dr. Valdiserri. First of all, let me
say that I don't think that we're sanguine about syphilis
elimination. We certainly wanted to share with the media and
public health community in the U.S. that we're making progress,
but both George and I, at various points in our presentation,
pointed out that it's possible for that progress to reverse
unless we sustain it. So we're clearly aware of the fact that
syphilis elimination is not a given without ongoing sustained
efforts.

We also, I think, always face a communication dilemma when we
talk about the national picture versus what's happening in
communities. This is particularly relevant for syphilis outbreaks
among MSM. It is true that nationally we are seeing declines
in syphilis that are associated with our ongoing syphilis elimination
efforts. But we also understand that in communities like Miami,
like Los Angeles, like Chicago, where there have been outbreaks
of
syphilis among MSM, that we really have to intensify our efforts.

Now, specifically on the issue of HIV and syphilis, you're
absolutely right. We are very concerned about what's happening
in MSM communities. We're concerned about the intersection of
syphilis and HIV transmission. As you likely know, it's a very
complicated issue. There are many factors that contribute to it.
CDC has been, again, for about the past 18 months or so, trying to
raise awareness about the possibility of a resurgence in HIV among
MSM across the United States. We've taken a number of steps to
try to heighten the awareness of that. We've sent out alerts to
community partners, to state and local health departments. We've
published articles in our weekly report, Morbidity and
Mortality Weekly Report. We're holding these regional
meetings, as I pointed out. So you're absolutely right. We have
to stay vigilant, we have to continue to focus on evolving trends,
and we have to be very aware of the intersection between HIV
and syphilis epidemics in the U.S., particularly as it relates
to MSM.

Dr. Counts

Just as a follow-up to that point, among the
outbreaks of cases of syphilis among MSM, one of the most
troubling and distressing aspects, of course, is the co-infection
of HIV seen in the cases of syphilis among men who mainly have
sex with men. The percentages might range from 20% to 70% of these
men
are co-infected with HIV. Obviously that's a very troubling
element, and heightens our activities focusing on these groups.

Moderator

The next question is from Gina Barton from Indianapolis
Star. Please go ahead.

G. Barton

You highlighted Marion County as one of the
places that had good success with decreasing rates, but yet
we're still number two, with more than 300 cases. What more
should places like Indianapolis with very high rates be doing to
make sure they continue to decrease in the future?

Dr. Counts

I think that the efforts taken in Marion
County reflected an aggressive program on the part of the city,
the county, the state of Indiana, as well as help from the Center
for Disease Control. The health officials at Marion County have
mounted an aggressive campaign, and they are making excellent
progress, although you're right. There still are 300 cases of
syphilis in Marion County. I think the rates are going in the
right direction, and early evidence from the year 2000 indicate
that the progression in Marion County will continue, and we're
very pleased with the results in Indianapolis.

Dr. Valdiserri

Just to underscore the issue of sustaining,
this is an important theme across public health. It's important
when we have trends headed in the right direction that we sustain
these efforts and not back away from our efforts.

Moderator

The next question is from Rich Bareaney from San
Antonio Express. Please go ahead.

R. Bareaney

Thank you. Other than the reasons that you
touched on this morning, is there any other explanation for the
12.5% increase in syphilis rates among Hispanics? Is it simply men
having sex with men and lack of access to medical care?

Dr. Counts

I believe that while there can be many
reasons, including some of the ones that you mentioned, and at
this time we can't really tease out all the factors. What we can
say are the things that you mentioned for sure. Some of the cases
and the outbreaks, a substantial proportion of cases and the
outbreaks that we have seen involving men who have sex with men
have involved Hispanics. If you look at the male to female rate
among the various racial groups, as we mentioned, they are
increasing since 1994. They are increasing most notably among
Hispanics and Latinos, suggesting that the cases among overall
Hispanics are due to MSM, but we don't have all the answers for
that.

Moderator

The next question is from Sanjay Bhatt from Palm
Beach Post. Please go ahead.

S. Bhatt

Thank you. Is there routine syphilis
screening going on in county jails across the country? If not, how
representative is the reported rate of syphilis nationwide?

Dr. Counts

Reported rates nationwide reflect many
conglomerate factors coming together. In terms of screening in
jails, communities around the country who have a large morbidity
of syphilis evaluate in their community where the case is coming
from. In some communities clearly it effects populations, which
interact with the correctional system. In those communities there
is jail screening. In those communities, in many of them, they
have been very productive in terms of identifying cases. In other
communities the issues of jail screening might not be so cogent.
The ultimate answer is to evaluate each community on a local
level, determine whether or not jail screening would be productive
for that community, and jail screening is being done in the ones
in which it suggested it would be of value.

Dr. Valdiserri

George, just to follow-up on the
journalist's question, I think it's probably fair to say that
we do need to do more in those correctional settings. We don't
want to imply that everywhere that routine screening is taking
place. I think what George was trying to point out, again, getting
back to basic good practices in public health. The programs need
to be driven by an assessment of needs and need to be driven by
what the epidemiology tells us. That's, I think, what he was
underscoring, but we would add that we have a lot more to do in
terms of syphilis services and HIV prevention services in
correctional settings.

Moderator

The next question is from Eric Erickson from Southern
Voice. Please go ahead.

E. Erickson

My question regards to significant risk for
MSMs again, and how does it specifically compare with the rates
for other STD's among MSMs, especially since the list can affect
ones ability to transmit HIV?

Dr. Valdiserri

Let me begin by saying that we're focusing
on syphilis, so we've talked about a variety of syphilis
outbreaks among various MSM populations across the United States.
We have also, in the past few years, seen outbreaks of other
sexually transmissible diseases, including gonorrhea, and
chlamydia, and I think most recently you may be aware of the fact
that CDC reported on an outbreak of shigella that was sexually
transmitted among MSM. That was on the West Coast. All of these
outbreaks and sexually transmissible diseases, along with reports
of increases in unsafe behaviors, these reports tend to come from
various studies across the U.S., again suggest that we're in a
situation where at least for some populations of men who have sex
with men that we might be poised for a resurgence of HIV.

Let me also just pause for an editorial moment in case, I think
maybe most of you are aware of this, but to let those of you who
may not be aware of it know that the reason CDC uses the
expression men who have sex with men is that we want to encompass
both gay identified and non-gay identified men who are engaging in
these activities. So to answer your question, we are seeing
outbreaks of STDs in other MSM populations.

Dr. Counts

Right, which you would expect because
they're all transmitted diseases and would be transmitted by the
same risky behavior.

Dr. Valdiserri

I think the other point perhaps you were
asking is that syphilis is not the only sexually transmissible
disease that can increase the risk of transmitting or acquiring
HIV. Also the non-ulcerative STDs have been associated with an
increased risk of acquiring or transmitting HIV. That's why in
the United States and in other parts of the world, strengthened
STD prevention and control programs are considered to be an
essential element to control the spread of HIV.

Moderator

The next question is from Diane Sugg from Baltimore
Sun. Please go ahead.

D. Sugg

Thank you. I'm wondering what the plans are
for continuing the financial support that you're giving places
like Baltimore? One of the problems we had here with our outbreaks
was that there were federal cutbacks that led to a lower number of
workers at our STD clinics. Now that we've got money from you
guys we're doing a lot better, but five years from now or three
years from now if the money gets cut off I'm wondering if
we'll be right back where we started?

Dr. Valdiserri

Let me make a general comment on resources
and then turn it to George. I think all of you are aware of the
fact that our resources at CDC come to us from the United States
Congress, so we always try to do the best job with the resources
that we have in hand. I guess I'm trying to say we're not the
only element in the equation of resource allocation. George, you
might want to speak more specifically to the Baltimore question.

Dr. Counts

When the syphilis elimination effort was made
and the funds were awarded to various local communities to help
with their syphilis elimination activities, as you have been made
aware, many of these communities have been very successful so far
in controlling their syphilis. But now it would not make sense
after they have been successful to remove the funding which
supported their efforts in being successful in the first place. So
our plans are of course to continue support for those communities,
even where they have been successful, but obviously this is all
affected by the amount of funding that the federal government and
we have.

Dr. Valdiserri

One last comment on that. You heard both of
us, George and I both, talk about the importance of public and
private partnerships. I think it's always important to
understand that public resources are not the only resources
available to address syphilis and other sexually transmissible
diseases. That's why it's also very important to have strong
relationships with the private sector, to try to broaden that
resource base. The bottom line is we always try to make the best
resource allocation decisions given the resources that are
available to us.

Moderator

Next question from Duncan Osborne from LGNY.
Please go ahead.

D. Osborne

Doctors, looking at these 21 counties and the
city of Baltimore, can you further define the extent to which
these cases result from sex between men who have sex with men and
heterosexuals? My sense is that most of these result from MSM
activity. Am I right about that or am I wrong?

Dr. Counts

I think you are wrong about that, because if
you look at those counties, which have the largest amount of
primary and secondary syphilis in the year 2000, many of these are
large urban areas from Cook County, Indianapolis, and Detroit.
Those do not reflect, primarily, men who have sex with men. Those
reflect heterosexual syphilis. I think that although we are seeing
gradual increases in syphilis occurring in men who have sex with
men around the country, the total number of such cases is
relatively small compared to the total number of syphilis cases
occurring each year, so although the numbers are relatively small,
we are obviously very concerned about it. But the total number of
cases that you see in any given year are heavily driven by
syphilis occurring among heterosexuals.

Dr. Valdiserri

Just one last point, Duncan. As you're
likely aware, this is part of the complexity of communicating this
message that overall rates are decreasing. As George mentioned,
overall, most of the cases of primary and secondary syphilis are
heterosexually transmitted, but there are also important local
outbreaks.

I think the other thing that we need to mention, this is an
element of the expansion of the elimination plan that I referred
to, is that we do need to do a better job of collecting
information about sexual practices in terms of the transmission
of syphilis. For many of our STDs this is not routinely done,
and it
can be difficult to tell whether a case is, unless anatomically
you get a clue, heterosexual or homosexual in origin. George
you might want to just comment on that, because I think it's
an important point. We have started some expanded surveillance
activities to try to get more detailed information about sexual
practices and transmission.

Dr. Counts

Right. Your point is very well taken, that
part of the difficulty is that we don't have complete and
accurate data from across the country in terms of behavioral risk
factors. That limits our ability to try to generalize in terms
of how much syphilis occurring among MSM is occurring. To address
that, we are increasing the surveillance with specific CDC funded
project, looking at certain sentinel cities around the United
States, which will include behavioral risk factors. Also, we are
developing a uniform interview document that will be used in the
future, which will be standardized across the country in all areas
for syphilis surveillance. That will be a big help to us.

Dr. Valdiserri

Thank you. Next question, please.

Moderator

The next question is from Nancy McVicar from Sun
Sentinel Florida. Please go ahead.

N. McVicar

Thanks for having this briefing. I just
wanted to ask you if you are seeing a lot of young people being
infected with syphilis. Also, something about the transmission
rate in infants, is that something that we should be concerned
about right now?

Dr. Counts

Let me take the infant question first. Cases
of congenital syphilis continue to occur, but we are pleased that
we have gone from approximately 1,000 cases of syphilis occurring
among infants in 1997, to 500 or so cases occurred in the year
2000. We have cut the cases of congenital syphilis almost in half,
and that's due to more aggressive screening and testing of
pregnant women.

Your question about the ages, syphilis continues to occur
primarily among women in their 20s and primarily among men in
their 30s. While we certainly have specific instances of younger
men and younger women developing syphilis, and those concern us,
we continue to see the disease focus primarily on the second and
third decade.

Moderator

The next question is from Wendy Wendland from
Detroit Free Press. Please go ahead.

W. Wendland

Hi. Thank you, doctors. I had a question. In
Detroit the numbers have actually gone up over the last couple
of years. I wondered if there are other cities or other communities
in this list of 22 that have also seen their numbers go up, and
if
they're may be an expansion of your pilot projects in those
communities?

Dr. Counts

If you look across the country at the 31 or
so communities, which received syphilis elimination funding,
approximately 12, I believe, over the past year have had some
increase. But if you look at the total number of cases nationwide,
as you said, we are seeing cases overall going down very nicely.
So what we have is communities which we're not having much
syphilis back three or four years ago, it is now beginning to
appear, other communities which had a lot of syphilis two or three
years ago, and they have had substantial reduction.

We are aware, of course, that cases in Detroit or Wayne County
are increasing, and the state of Michigan, and the city of
Detroit, and the country of Wayne, are already taking aggressive
measures. They are trying to get control of that, along with help
from CDC.

Moderator

The next question is from Victoria Eliot from
American Medical News. Please go ahead.

V. Eliot

Hi. I was wondering since so many public
health resources are concentrated on the anthrax scare, if that
was affecting efforts to eliminate syphilis at all?

Dr. Valdiserri

Let me take that question first. At the
Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the answer to that
would be no. We are still committed to syphilis elimination. As
I mentioned earlier, we think that it's possible. We know that
it's been achieved in other industrialized nations in the world.
I think there is a broader question that really goes beyond CDC
to the American public, and that is what decisions the American
public might make about how scarce public health resources are
invested in the years to come. I want to just remind everyone that
syphilis has not gone away because of anthrax, nor has
tuberculosis, nor have HIV or any of the other sexually
transmissible diseases that we deal with.

Dr. Counts

The only thing that I would add to that would
be that at the local and state level, where public health
officials, STD health workers, and others, if they were to be
devoted to focus more on bio-terrorism issues, it could have an
impact on STD control efforts. But as of right now, we're not
seeing an impact yet.

Moderator

The next question is from Brian Betchel from Infectious
Disease News. Please go ahead.

B. Betchel

Thank you. Dr. Counts, I noticed in the press
kit that there's been almost a 90% drop in syphilis cases
between 1990 and 2000, and that seems, of course, dramatic. But
I'm wondering what factors led to this or if there is something
particular to syphilis that led to such a dramatic production?

Dr. Counts

As Dr. Valdiserri mentioned, over the past 40
years we have seen cases in rates of syphilis go up and down in
seven to ten-year cycles. What made 1990 different from previous
peaks was the fact that it was so high, so that since 1990, as you
said, rates have fallen dramatically. They have fallen
dramatically in previous peaks, but they have fallen dramatically
since then.

Among the factors that you could imagine which might have been
playing a role, were an increased focus of local and state health
officials on STD control programs, especially syphilis. There
could have been some waning of the crack epidemic in this country,
which fueled some of the rise in primary and secondary syphilis
in the late '80s, the effects of safe sex messages into the '90s,
and perhaps some unknown factor about the organism that causes
infectious diseases to cycle. There could have been many factors.
The thing of note about it is not only has it come down
dramatically, but since 1998, since we started the syphilis
elimination effort, they have continued to fall rather than going
back up as they might have if we had not been focusing our efforts
on syphilis elimination.

Moderator

The next question is from Mary Powers from
the Commercial Appeal. Please go ahead.

M. Powers

Thank you for taking the time to answer these
questions. Unlike Detroit, Memphis has seen its rate come down and
the number of case come down, but very, very modestly. Is there
anything communities can look at to just assess how good a job is
being done locally with this additional federal funding?

Dr. Counts

One of the things that we are doing for each
community, which receives syphilis elimination funding, is to have
a program assessment. By that we mean a team of officials from
the CDC, with help from the local communities, will perform a complete
evaluation of the local syphilis elimination efforts in those
individual communities. Following that program assessment, needs
are identified. These needs could be personnel, technical
assistance, resource needs, whatever. I know that this has been
done in Memphis, so that Shelby County, Memphis, and the CDC, and
our partnerships are working in that effort. The numbers have
fallen, as you say. They've gone from 258 in 1999 down to 246 in
the year 2000. I believe that we will see in the year 2001 that
the numbers will continue to fall.

Moderator

The next question is from Randy Dotinga from Health
Scott News Service. Please go ahead.

R. Dotinga

Hi. I'm trying to pin down some numbers on
the MSM. How many cases are we aware of of MSM from 2000, and if
you had to guess, how many more do we not have specifically
categorized in that category?

Dr. Valdiserri

I think, as was mentioned earlier, part of
the difficulty we face is that nationally we don't have
information on sexual practices that would enable us nationally to
say with certainty how many cases of primary and secondary
syphilis in 2000 are the result of male to male sexual contact.
That is clearly a problem. It's clearly a deficit. That's why
we've instituted these special surveillance studies in 11 cities
that will enable us to have this specific information. We really
can't guess at it at this point in time.

We do have some indications. For instance, Dr. Counts mentioned
earlier, when he was talking about the 12.5% increase in Hispanic
and Latino populations, that there is a suspicion there that
some of the increases being driven by MSM activity because of
the
increased ratio of male to female cases. We're very cautious to
say that we don't have that exact information. We also want to
add that we consider that to be a deficit and that's why we've
instituted these studies, so that we can get a better handle
nationally on what's happening.

George, do you want to add anything?

Dr. Counts

No. That's fine.

Moderator

A follow-up question from Bob Roar from Bay
Area Reporter. Please go ahead.

B. Roar

Hi. When we talk about HIV and syphilis and
other STDs, there's sort of a chicken and egg scenario here of
trying to figure out which comes first or which impacts the other.
Have you collected any data in terms of how many of these folks
are also HIV infected? I'm thinking particularly of some of the
work out of Seattle, I guess, with MSMs. A very high percentage
of those people were already HIV infected, and knew their status,
and
sort of gets to the bare-backing issue.

Dr. Valdiserri

As Dr. Counts mentioned earlier, in the
majority of the MSM syphilis outbreaks that have been studied over
the past two years, a significant proportion of those men are
infected with HIV. It ranges from anywhere from 20% to 70%,
depending upon the outbreak and locality, but as a recurrent
theme, many of those men are co-infected with HIV. Hence the
concern on the HIV side of the equation that some of these, I
don't want to generalize, it's very important to be careful
not to generalize, but that some of these men and some of these
populations may no longer be adhering, say, to sexual practices.
Again, this is due to a number of factors, misperceptions about
some folks think that if they're under treatment with highly
active anti-retroviral therapy and their viral load is down, they
think that they're not able to translate HIV. There certainly
have been alterations in the perception of risk related to HIV as
a result of improvements in treatment, issues of prevention,
burnout, etc. It's multifaceted. It's complicated. But to
answer your question, in all of these outbreaks a substantial
number of these men are co-infected with HIV.

Moderator

We have a follow-up question from Steven
Smith from Miami Herald. Please go ahead.

S. Smith

I was wondering if you could discuss the
reliability of these data a little bit? I guess by that I mean
that if we look at the rate figures, just statistically the rate
figures demonstrate some grossly significant variations, almost
to the point of calling into question statistical reliability.
You
add in to the fact that among those top ten are two of the
communities whose prevention programs you specifically cited,
Marion County and Davidson County. So I'm wondering if it's
reasonable to suggest that say in those communities, because there
have been these significant prevention efforts, concomitantly
there has been a better assessment of the actual infection rate.

Dr. Counts

That's a very good question, and it
highlights the two ways that you must look at STD data from any
community. With our syphilis elimination effort we have a goal to
reduce the number of cases occurring in the United States to a
certain level, so we focus on the number of cases. We have
concentrated on those cities and those counties, which have the
greatest number of cases. But when it comes to a discussion of
rates, obviously the rate is influenced by the population density.
For example, you could have Los Angeles, which might have a
substantial number of cases of syphilis, but the rates would be
very low because of the large population. So we look at them both,
and we are focusing primarily on the cases when we talk about
improvement and successes. But you're right about you need to
look at both, but they tell you different things.

Dr. Valdiserri

Just a more general comment on evaluation of
efforts, because I think this does come back to how do we know
what we're doing is having an impact. Clearly these are not
controlled clinical trials. It wouldn't be ethical to do a
controlled clinical trial in this group, but we do look at other
indicators. We don't just look at the rates. We look at a
variety of other programmatic indicators, a variety of other rates
of other sexually transmissible diseases and HIV. So I think
you're question is a fair one. How do we know that what we are
doing is having an impact? I can answer that generally by saying
that we do have other evaluation criteria, and we could put you in
touch with folks who could talk about that in more detail. If
you're interested, I would call the number that I sited earlier.

Moderator

The next question is a follow-up from Sanjay
Bhatt from Palm Beach Post. Please go ahead.

S. Bhatt

Palm Beach County has asked for CDC funding
to resume routine screening of people brought to its jail, which
raises the question, was there a falloff in federal funding
available for screening in the jails since 1990? Could that be a
factor in the decline in reported rates of syphilis infection?

Dr. Counts

I know that the cases in Palm Beach County
have gone from 37 to 90-some, so that they have increased, but
your question about the provision of additional jail screening
funds specific to Palm Beach County, there has been an assessment
performed in Miami Dade County. Out of that assessment was a
combination of efforts by the state of Florida and by the Miami
Dade County focusing on what were needed in Miami Dade County.
Now there hasn't been a specific assessment done in Palm Beach
County, but if additional needs were identified, specifically to
set up a jail program, the Center would address those needs and
respond appropriately, but I can't tell you anything specific
about Palm Beach County. I appreciate that it's...from Miami.

Dr. Valdiserri

Just as a general comment, we don't have,
in terms of the syphilis elimination, a separate funding stream
for screening correctional settings. I mentioned this earlier,
part of what we're dealing with here is trying to give
communities the appropriate surveillance information and the
appropriate tools they need to make the best informed decisions
about where resources should be deployed. I think it's fair to
say that there's never enough resource to meet every need.

I think the way I would generally answer your question is that
we want to make sure that we have the kind of surveillance
information that is needed, and again, that community groups have
access to that information, understand that information, and can
work with health departments to make decisions about where
resources are best deployed to eliminate syphilis.

Do we have any other questions?

Moderator

You have a final follow-up from Eric Erickson
from Southern Voice. Please go ahead.

E. Erickson

Do we know how many of these cases, because
sometimes people don't use all their medications and they may
not treat it correctly after they see the physician, how many are
recurring and how many are new?

Dr. Counts

No, I can't specifically tell you how many
newly diagnosed cases are recurrences, because if a person has
had syphilis and the disease has been treated, that person is not
susceptible for a certain period of time to be re-infected.
However, the immunity wanes very quickly so that a person who has
been infected at one time maybe several months or years later be
re-infected and would be counted appropriately as a new case of
syphilis.

Dr. Valdiserri

If there are no final questions, on behalf of
George, myself, and our CDC colleagues in the room here, we want
to thank all of you for your time and interest in syphilis
elimination. As I mentioned earlier, if there's a need for
follow-up information, please feel free to visit our Web site or
to call our press office. Thank you very much for your time and
interest. That concludes our press briefing.

Moderator

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